First-time home-owners Eva McMillan and Kyle Howe, or the McHowes (a playful portmanteau used on their blog), moved in just five months ago. But you would’t be able to tell by the amount of meaningful details they’ve already nestled throughout the space. Like so many others, the pandemic shifted their perspective on the importance of a comfortably curated sanctuary. So, when they set about finding a place in Vancouver, BC, their checklist was no match against a home that felt truly loved by its previous owner. Eva, who works in public health, and Kyle, an air quality meteorologist, fell in love over a decade ago—initially drawn together by a mutual love of beer, neon, and music. Over the years, their shared aesthetic and passions have grown to include photography, travel, and local exploration. Take a peek into the home that captured their hearts and now reflects their nurtured sense of style.
"We’re slowly making a few small changes. We’ve painted a wall, we’ll add some different lighting, change a shelf, but so many of the thoughtful details [the previous owner] put in were exactly what we never believed we could have found—from the open kitchen concept to the wild wallpaper in the bathroom."
"We’ve mostly lived in lofts, and are happily surprised with how much we love having a bedroom space that can be dedicated as a self-care retreat and sanctuary."
"We decided to go with linen for our bedding because it feels like a luxury but looks like heaven when it’s a scrumpled mess, which basically summarizes our approach to life and style. We decided to go with Wilet because it’s a local women-owned business and that’s really important to us."
"I’ve had to rethink my relationship to my body over the past year, and so on the winter solstice I sat for a charcoal drawing by local artist Tori Swanson. It was a beautiful, empowering and meaningful experience that I get to look at every day now."
"When we moved in everyone kept excitedly and hopefully asking if we were going to keep the wallpaper. Obviously. Obviously we’re keeping it."
"Our friend gifted me this alpaca throw for my birthday, from a small local shop, [it’s] cozy and stripey in our home’s colour palette. Our dog matches, too."
"This piece, “The Depth of the Dark” from local artist Joy Kinna, feels like the west coast, a stormy sunrise over the ocean, or the wet colours of the winter. She suggests that through this piece we can see that to know the light means to be aware of the dark, and that it’s a gift to know both."
"Our space is only 650 square feet, and we’ve both been living, working, exercising and hosting friends together in a space this size for the past two years. Our table, which serves as both a gathering space and our workspace, cleverly folds down into one-third the size allowing us the freedom to move it into the hall to do our online dance and HIIT classes in our workspace-turned-dining-room-turned-fitness-studio."
"The amount of traveling I’ve been able to do in my life has always felt like one of the most spectacularly beautiful gifts the universe has bestowed on me. In Copenhagen, we experienced the concept of hygge from our AirBnB host—an architect with impeccable taste. Among many other details, our host had a sheepskin, and I’ve wanted one since then, to make sure that we bring warmth and coziness into our minimal style."
"This dolphin was hand carved by my uncle as a gift from him and my auntie. I love the Japanese concepts of Wabi Sabi and Ma, the beauty in imperfection and empty space; our little dolphin has a chip in its tail, but we honour it by surrounding it in negative space."
"When I wake up in the morning, one of the first things I do is open the curtains for our plants. I didn’t think I was a plant person, but I have loved watching them grow and breathe some literal and figurative life into our space."
Check out more of the space on Eva and Kyle’s Instagram feeds and in their blog, Living Foreva. Would you like The Corners of your Home to be featured in our Journal? Please reach out—we’d love to hear from you!